President of bishops conference urges National Accord for peace in Colombia

Bogotá, Colombia, Feb 27, 2009 / 04:04 pm (CNA).- Colombia’s National Commission on Reconciliation has announced a proposal for a “National Accord for Peace and Reconciliation in Colombia.”

The president of the Bishops’ Conference of Colombia and of the National Commission, Bishop Ruben Salazar Gomez, said the initiative is intended to build “a minimum consensus that will allow the country the find the paths that will unite us in building a more just, more fraternal and peaceful Colombia. And in this way effectively contribute to the end of the armed conflict and the social conflict in general.”

According to a press release on the bishops’ website, the president of the National Industrial Association, Luis Carlos Villegas, said the Commission’s initiative is “completely endorsable by business organizations. The plan “has our full support,” he said.

Augusto Ramirez Ocampo, another member of the Commission, said that during the coming months, consultations will take place with different sectors of Colombian society to “slowly begin building a network.” He explained that the aim is to create an accord that is simple and understandable to all. “It should be the expression of the national soul,” he said.